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Sunday, January 16, 2011

FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS

Review:

This iteration is partially an attempt to be a return to the ‘roots’ of the fallout gameworld, which is sort of hard to do considering they used the same engine/models/physics etc. etc. etc.

…but with that said the folks at Obsidian did do a pretty decent job of it, so on to the review.

The opening sequence is brilliant, and ends with you being patched up by one of the local docs, who leads you in setting your SPECIAL stats and perks.Starting perksare, this time, much less generic to the larger pool and all have significant drawbacks as well as benefits. They even included a Bizzaro World perk for replays, which I very much enjoyed. The extras aren’t as common as you may expect, but still are enough to make re-exploring quite enjoyable.

Remember this little fella from the trailer? He makes an appearance again in the game, and you can even bring him along for the ride... provided you have the skills to do so.

The first few things you will notice are that the narrative is excellent, and so is the voice acting. Story elements placed in your path don’t seem forced, so finding things feels more like a discovery and less like being led around by the nose.

The voice actors (some you may recognize) are all very good, and after playing through 3 times I can’t remember even one performance that took me out of the story with an ‘ugh’ moment. From the cliché cowboy sounding robots to the detached intellectual Mr. House, I was fairly impressed.

Cowboy robots? Check.

If you played the first game much will be familiar, but the sticklers will be pleasantly surprised this time around. The minor glitches of the first game, like missing in VATS even if it was 100% if the enemy closed to point blank range while in the mode, seem to be mostly resolved. Also you’ll notice slight improvements throughout. One such improvement is greater VATS control of melee and unarmed fighting. Executing an upper cut and making an opponent’s heads snap back, chin pointing at the ceiling, and then watching him fall backwards in that position was quite satisfying no matter how many times I did it :D

One of the many LoL moments of violence. If you're going to hit someone in the face with a golf club, at least keep proper form.

Returned are the old ‘implants’ administered by the ancient and shady autodocs, as long as you have the endurance to handle it. This makes endurance a must on all character builds, along with an increased role of luck in the game world… this is Vegas after all ;)

There are many games of chance to play in New Vegas, all of which rely on luck to determine the odds. For this reason, starting at around 7 luck is best and even upping it to 8 as the first perk achieved. With the right strategies one can come out of a trip to the strip with around 50,000-100,000 caps in the pockets, or be completely broke… as the difference in chances are quite drastic if points are taken away from luck in character creation. Most of the caps you earn on the strip will go towards your autodoc procedures to make yourself th3 uberz.

Mmm heavy ranger armor... Looks so good it makes you wanna slap yo momma. Unfortunately if you put on a faction's armor you get all their reputation baggage along with it.

The storyline, while good, is quite short (only around 10-20 hours depending on what path you take). Most of the game’s content can be completely skipped in favor of following the breadcrumb trail. Even though most RPG gamers, who have the habit of thinking “OMG A SHACK I WONDER WHATS IN IT!?! :D :D :D” will love every minute of it, it was still odd to talk about the game with people and have them stare blankly if I mentioned the supermutant town, or one of the numerous vaults, or nooks and crannies of the game.

Still, the replay value is extremely high, and if all the separate storylines were to be added up (even with the major overlaps) it is still more than enough to fill the stomachs of any would-be gamer.

These suckers pack a punch, even though it looks like you should just be able to push them over and laugh.

Graphics were much to be expected considering it uses the same engine as the previous game. Yet, some improvements were made, the most recognizable being that new animations were added, both for human NPCs and the critters of the wasteland. The atmosphere of this iteration is also a bit different, more of a desert and less of a radioactive wasteland.

All in all this in an excellent game, well-worth a purchase, whose only major flaw that I saw was that it leaves you wanting more. Would that all games I played had that flaw :D

Gameplay: 8/10 (crashes every once and awhile on some systems)

Graphics: 8/10

Story: 8.5/10 (short)

Sound: 9/10

Fun: 9.5/10

Final Score: 9.1 Go buy it!

If you have any questions about the game, quests, and strategies don’t hesitate to leave them in the commentssection.